Detroit without the D

It's officially October in the D, which admittedly doesn't come close to matching the early 2000's excitement of APRIL in the D.

But with Lion and Spartan defenses playing more gruesome than Saw VI and the growing suspense of the Wings roster final cuts- we are definitely in for a spooky month.

But before we get going- there is a referral link at the bottom of this email. If you could forward this onto one single solitary person, we would greatly appreciate it.

Oh and you can earn prizes... like stickers, hats, tickets, & memorabilia. Gracias.

Onto the content!

Lions Somehow Find Brand New Way To Crush Our Souls, Fall to 1-3

Inside you the Detroit Lions there are two wolves... one is a historically great offense through the first four games of an NFL season... the other is the worst professional defense on planet earth.

Well put, Dan.

In yet another shocking development in the misery of being a Detroit Lions fans, it seems we are setting records on both sides of the ball. The offense, no matter who is out there, is thriving.

The defense, however, is the embodiment of this gif.

Normally, we try and walk you through the game to give you an idea of our how our Sunday was ruined this time around, but look at that score. You have things to do, so we're going high-level this week.

The Detroit Lions offense was spectacular outside of one Goff pick-6 to start the second half. Missing Amon-Ra, Swift, & Chark, we were curious to see if the Lions offense could keep up their historic pace- and they did, to the tune of 45 points and 520 total yards.

To call Detroit's defense a wet paper bag Sunday would be a compliment. Imagine the bag is made of swiss cheese, then dip the hole-ridden cheese bag in acid and watch it disintegrate- now you have a more accurate picture of the Lions D vs Seattle.

The Aaron Glenn led unit did not force a punt the entire f*&#!ng game. Seattle scored on every single drive they attempted outside of one missed field goal in the middle of the third.

Detroit made Geno Smith and Rashaad Penny look like '99-01 Warner and Faulk.

Also, Antonio Brown exposed himself in a public pool this weekend. The only reason we're telling you that is so you get this next tweet.

Game Notes:

Goff continues to sling: 26/39, 378 yards and 4 TD's. His only blunder was the pick-6 on the first play of the second half.

Williams steps up in Swift's absence. 19 carries for 108 yards and two TD's, with a long of 51. Via ESPN: Williams is the first player in the league to run for more than one touchdown in three of his first four games since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005. He is the first Lion to have multiple scores on the ground in three games in a season since Barry Sanders in 1997.

Hockenson has historic day. Hock-Daddy had 8 receptions for 179 yards (Lions franchise record) and two TD's, with a long of 81. We're telling you this game was chaos.

Fake Punt: Lions pulled off a fake punt, where Jack Fox hit Quintez Cephus with a perfect six yard toss on fourth and three late in the first.

Lion Slayers: Seattle's Geno Smith went 23/30, 320 yards and 2 TD's while Rashaad Penny had 17 carries for 151 yards and two TD's.

Next Up: New England (1-3), Sunday Oct. 9th at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Wings Preseason In Full Swing, Position Battles Tightening

With Detroit's regular season kicking off at home vs Montreal on October 14th, the Wings final position battles are heating up.

What we know: On Monday the Wings lost to Pittsburgh 3-2, and featured what some believe to be a similar lineup the Wings will trot out opening night.

Notables missing from this lineup:

•  C Andrew Copp: Still recovery from abdominal surgery, hopes to be ready for opening night. He will serve as the second line center between Perron and Vrana.

• G Alex Nedeljkovic: Scratched, will be sharing the net with Husso for the '22-'23 season.

• F Elmer Soberblom: The 6'8, 2018 draft pick sat out due to soreness. He is competing for a roster spot and was personally requested by Yzerman to be featured more in preseason.

• F Oskar Sundqvist: Undisclosed injury

Now, if you ask Max Bultman of The Athletic, he thinks this will be the opening day lineup as far as forwards go:

This might leave you asking- where is Jonatan Berggren, Givani Smith & Soderblom? Well, Bultman believes Erne is doing enough to edge them all out, and he's backed up by this quote from head coach Derek Lalonde:

“You look at someone who’s having a good camp right now, Adam Erne. If you recall, two games ago he gets two goals. And we flip him and (Pontus) Andreasson, just to give Andreasson a look with some different players. And then the line Adam went on drove offense.”

Who will take the last wing spot? Only time will tell.

So where does that leave Macomb County's favorite Italian player, Joe Veleno? Bultman addresses that as well.

The glaring omission here is Joe Veleno, and I don’t want to rule him out — especially if Sundqvist (or anyone else) misses some time. But right now, if we assume he stays at center, it looks like his waiver-exempt status could make him the odd man out, sending him to Grand Rapids to start out. That wouldn’t be the end of the world, as it would surely mean a big role for Veleno, nor would it be a permanent assignment. Right now, it just looks like a numbers game.

Wings take on Washington tonight (Wed. Oct 3rd) at 7pm in DC for their sixth of eight total preseason games.

Tigers Hottest Team In Baseball. Not Kidding.

In what has been the one of the more nightmarish seasons in recent Tigers' memory, the boys are finishing the year on fire. Not only are they going to avoid 100 losses, but they have won 11 of their last 15 games, by far their best run of the season.

But fear not, I also have bad news! The Seattle Mariners, whom the Tigers are currently in a four-game series with, have clinched the playoffs for the first time since 2001. This ended the longest postseason drought in the four major men's North American sports.

In addition to that, the Philadelphia Phillies clinched a Wild Card spot on Monday, which means they will go to the post-season for the first time since 2011.

So who's got the longest MLB postseason drought now? You guessed it. Our Tigers (tied with the Angels). Both teams made it in 2014 and haven't been back since.

Remember 2014? The year when our rotation looked like this:

+ David Price.

We'll never understand how we were swept in three games by the Orioles. Blame Ausmus I guess.

Pistons Preseason Kicks Off In Horrifying Fashion with 117-96 Loss to Knicks

Now we never want to look to deeply into preseason play, and with the performance the Pistons had last night we may never want to speak of it again.

At one point the 'Back To Work' (yes, we're making that a thing) Boys trailed by as many as 32 points. In addition to that, they committed 22 turnovers while Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, were a combined 4-for-20 shooting for 13 points (Freep).

And while it was ugly, we did get a first look at what the opening night starting lineup could look like. Dwane Casey went with the following last night:

Via Freep: Cunningham, Bey, Bogdanovic and Stewart appeared to be safe bets to start. Ivey was the wild card, but his team-leading 16-point performance showed that he may be ready for the limelight.

While overall it was an ugly night, there were some bright spots.

• New Memphis draft pick, Jalen Duren, grabbed a game-high 14 boards.

• Isaiah Livers was 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.

SG Alec Burks did not play due to a fractured right foot. Neither did Nerlens Noel, due to his foot and reconditioning.

Pistons take on New Orleans on Friday at 8pm.

Michigan State (2-3) Continues Misery Tour With 27-13 Road Loss To Maryland

Tua's brother, Taulia Tagovailoa went 32/41 for 314 yards and a TD en route to a Maryland (4-1) victory that never really felt threatened by MSU.

Michigan State failed to put up any points in the second half, suffering their second consecutive Big Ten loss, moving to 0-2 within the conference.

State reeks of a bad team. Having no answers when teams drop back to pass, and struggling on special teams- missing a field goal, having one blocked, and missing a PAT due to a poor snap.

While State did make it a one-point game with 4:24 left in the first half, Maryland promptly folded the Spartan defense like a lawn chair to the tune of 80 yards in 13 plays to score a touchdown with 42 seconds left in the quarter.

From there, Sparty was burnt toast. Thorne would toss a pick-six that was (luckily) called back for a penalty, then State would have a field goal blocked before heading into the half trailing 21-13.

State would have 8 total yards of offense in the third quarter and be shutout for the rest of the game.

State takes on #3 Ohio State at home next Saturday, they are currently 26-point underdogs. Woof.

Michigan (4-0) Takes Care of Business in Iowa, Wins 27-14

For three quarters Michigan's defense was able to keep Iowa (3-2) off the scoreboard. Pair that with the Wolverines scoring on four of their first five possessions and you have an undefeated Michigan team through the first four games of the season.

Blake Corum produced another spectacular performance, rushing for 133 yards and a touchdown, while JJ McCarthy threw for 155 and had a touchdown of his own.

This was Michigan's first road test of the season and the narrative going into the game was Kinnick Stadium is where top five teams go to die. Five of the last six top-5 teams had been beaten at Iowa before Michigan entered the building Saturday.

Via ESPN: The visiting team's locker room at Iowa is known for the pink paint on the walls and ceiling. Several of the Wolverines countered the psychology by waving pink towels on the sideline before the opening kickoff.

Michigan continues to be steady and consistent with their victories, controlling the game on both sides of the ball, beating the teams they are supposed to beat.

They are currently ranked #4 in the nation, one spot behind arch rival Ohio State. U of M is on the road again next week as they take on Indiana in Bloomington next Saturday at noon.

That'll do it. If you could do us the absolute solid of forwarding this onto a friend, co-worker, enemy or your crush in accounting, we would greatly appreciate it.

See you next week.